Research Assistant

Laura Seago

Laura Seago is a Joint PhD Candidate in Public Policy and Political Science at the University of Michigan. She studies the political economy of conflict, and is particularly interested in the role of multinational corporations in civil violence and human rights outcomes. Her dissertation, The Allocation of Labor Repression in the Era of Globalization, explores the relationship between public and private provision of labor repression in the developing world, and shows that NGO scrutiny affects the allocation of repressive responsibility. Laura has also authored and co-authored papers about regulation and foreign direct investment, the mobilization of dissent, the consequences of civil war for economic growth, and other topics. Laura is a 2011 winner of the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, and is currently a USAID Research and Innovation Fellow at the Universidad de Los Andes in Bogota, Colombia. Prior to entering graduate school, Laura worked as a Research Associate at the Brennan Center for Justice and as Development Director at Latinos Progresando, a community-based immigration services agency in Chicago. She holds a BA from the University of Chicago and an MA from the University of Michigan.